Photo of the Day: Mitt Romney addresses a crowd at Lansing Community College in Lansing, Michigan May 8, 2012 (Rebecca Cook/Courtesy Reuters)

In Michigan Tuesday, GOP presumptive presidential nominee Mitt Romney said the United States was on a path of “the greatest economic divergence of the last hundred years” shortly before sweeping another GOP three primaries. Read more »

Photo of the Day: Mary Morris Talman and Pat Lloyd at a political event for Democratic candidates in Galivants Ferry, South Carolina, May 7, 2012 (Randall Hill/Courtesy Reuters).

President Barack Obama’s campaign released its first ad (HuffPost) since officially kicking off the campaign, making the case that the economy is pointed in the right direction for recovery but that there is more yet to do. The ad lays out the situation inherited by the Obama administration and the progress made, including the auto bailout, and private-sector job creation. Read more »

President Barack Obama doubled down on his economic case for a second term, which he explained favors boosting social programs that benefit the middle-income Americans in sharp contrast with Republicans’ past and future proposals to spur growth with upper-income tax cuts. Read more »

The women's wrestling competition at the Combat Games in Beijing September 1, 2010. (David Gray/Courtesy Reuters)

The U.S.-China relationship is being strained by Chinese cybertheft of U.S. intellectual property, providing new fodder for election-year politicking.

Intellectual property theft by the Chinese is destroying the U.S. competitive edge, writes Richard A. Clarke, a former White House counterterrorism adviser, in a New York Times op-ed. Cyber attacks, Clarke argues, will soon outpace terrorism as the FBI’s biggest concern. Read more »

Much debated on the campaign trail, the question of if and how the United States will intervene in Syrian unrest (NYT) comes closer to an answer. The United States over the weekend pledged to send non-lethal equipment including communications equipment and night-vision goggles along with the $100 million Arab nations promised to pay opposition fighters. Read more »

Photo of the Day: Supporters and opponents of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act at the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, March 28, 2012 (Jonathan Ernst/Courtesy Reuters).

GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney was chided from afar (Reuters) by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev for his repeated statement that Russia is the “number-one geopolitical foe” for the United States. In an op-ed for Foreign Policy, Romney again accused Russia of “obstructionism at the United Nations” on a whole raft of issues. Read more »

About This Blog

The Candidates and the World provides a timely guide to the national security and foreign policy dimensions of the 2012 presidential transition. It offers insight on the top issues, and gauges global reaction to the election's results.